The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
This blog with lots of photos is intended for all my friends, family, and relatives.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Automatic car wash

Hubby usually washes his car using automatic car wash machines that are very common sights at gas stations in Japan. An automatic car wash machine is a facility to clean the exterior of motor vehicles. In Japan the automatic car wash machines are generally of the type called exterior rollover car wash. These car wash machines have a compact design, and are very reliable and cost-effective. These machines are designed, manufactured, and engineered using super advanced technology of Japan and its performance always beats my expectations. The machine delicately washes the body of a car with scrubbing, rinsing, waxing, and drying. It is a neat little device and no man-power is needed for washing the car.

The fully automatic car wash machines are self operated and can be used any time of the day or night. It is very simple to use and operate these car wash machines. There is a computerized automatic cashier that offers several menu options like ‘shampoo wash’ or ‘wax wash’ to choose and select from. This time hubby chose ‘shampoo wash’ that cost about 1300 Yen. After purchasing the ticket, he moved our car to the car washing booth area. When he drove the car inside the washing booth and the car was in the correct position, an electronic bulletin board signal informed him to stop. We must pay attention that the car antenna and the side mirrors are retracted, the emergency parking brake is pulled, and the engine is stopped. At that point, the car wash equipment moved back and forth over our car on a little track set into the ground and performed specific functions such as applying soap, rinse or blow dry with each pass. Various brushes and sprays popped out from the inside of the equipment during the wash. The electronic bulletin board installed at the front of car wash machine indicated the present status of wash and point of caution, if any.

Automatic car wash machine at a gas station

Computerized automatic cashier

Hubby took a video of the car wash from inside the car and I took a video from the outside.Video of the car wash taken from inside the car

Video of the car wash taken from the outside

The entire process of car wash took only about two minutes and our car became incredibly clean. Even the spokes on the wheels became shiny. Amazing Japanese technology! The brushes used during washing are made of superior product, which does not scratch the car paint. The fully automated car wash is very quick and has an exceptional value. We do not have to get out of the car during the entire process of car wash.

4 comments:

I always enjoy reading your posts which are written from a perspective with other cultural backgrounds.

Automatic car wash machines are so common in Japan. For some car mania, they still continue to love to wash / polish their own cars by their hands. However, people who do not care that much (in fact, car wash does everything great and so fast!), it is a great machine.

Thanks for your comment Yasu. Yeah, automatic car wash machines are very common here in Japan.

I always appreciate the advanced technology of Japan. This is because I can understand how much efforts go into making a defect free product and how many reliability tests are carried out at the development level before making a product available commerically. I have never seen any sensor (or any other part) in the car wash machine breakdown :)

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About Me

I am an Indian living in Japan for the past 19 years. I am a scientist researcher of Physics by profession. However since October 2008, I am taking a long break from my job and enjoying the life of a homemaker in Akita prefecture with my Japanese hubby. Akita prefecture is in northern Japan and is known for its scenic natural beauty. In this blog I write about my life with hubby, everyday life experiences, and our sightseeing trips. We both love visiting news places a lot!